Chapter 10: A family-Act One, Scene Two

We've left our wayward husband to look into the scene he described:  Jacob’s Well, just outside the town.  It the afternoon of that same day.  A group of women are talking at the well, filling urns with water.  They are gossipy, lighthearted and confident.  A man enters unseen and sits nearby.  He carries himself with the weariness of a constant traveler; a man a long way from home.  He sits on a rock and listens to their conversation.  So will we.

Esther Deborah, you have the patience of Job.  I don't know how you put up with it.

Rachel She has to.  We all do.  But we have our ways to get back what's ours. 

They all laugh

.

Deborah – But you haven’t heard the latest.

Esther – Good news, I hope.

Rachel – Tell us, sister.  Don’t leave us waiting.

Deborah – He came home this morning.

Rachel –  He just walked right in?

Deborah – Like nothing had ever happened...

Esther – You're not serious.

Deborah – ... and started washing his hands and face.

Esther – That's not all he should be washing.  I mean.... he should be washing Deborah’s feet

Rachel – Oh, of course. 

Rachel winks and the rest of the women grin.

Deborah – Then he kisses the children and says, "I'm off to work.  I'll be home for dinner." Then he takes my hand and gives me those eyes.  "We'll talk later," he says.

Esther – So you'll take him back?

Deborah –Of course.  He's a good provider.  And like you said:  we have our ways.

Rachel – Make him grovel, Deborah!

Esther – Like the dog he is.

Deborah – Yes... just like a dog.

Esther – But what about that woman?

Deborah – What about her?  Have you seen her lately?  She's not what she was when she took my husband, just like she wasn't what she claimed when she came to Sychar.  She'll not be stealing many more husbands here.  In fact, I don't expect the town will allow her to stay much longer.  

All – That’s right!

The traveler watches as they gather their 

jugs and leave.  Mary enters shortly after carrying her urn.  

She looks around to see if she's alone and then begins filling the urn.  

The traveler observes her quietly for a moment,  and smiles as 

though recognizing a long-lost relative.  He calls out to her.

Traveler – May I have a drink?

Mary –  Oh!  I didn't see you there.  Wait.... You’re a Jew, aren’t you?  I am a Samaritan.  You are not supposed to be talking with me.  How can you ask me for a drink? 

Traveler – If you knew who I was and what I can offer you, you would have asked me and I would have given you living water.

Mary – I don’t understand.  You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where would you get this living water?   (Proudly) Just who do you think you are, anyway.  Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?

The traveler comes over to the well and 

looks down into its depths.  He shrugs, unimpressed.

Traveler – Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks my water will never thirst again.  If fact, my water will become in him a spring of water overflowing with eternal life.

Real prophets are in short supply in Palestine, 

but Mary knew they are capable of great miracles.

Mary – (mumbling to herself) If I can win his favor, he might be able to get God to give me my own well.  I would never have to come here again.  I could open my own inn.  I could leave this town.  (angrily) I wouldn't need anybody ... not even a husband!

Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.

Traveler – First, go get your husband and come back.

Mary – I ... I have no husband.

Traveler –Yes, I know.  The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband.  It's quite true, isn't it.

Mary has often been unclothed in front of a man, 

but she has never felt naked as she did now. 

She stammers and tries to change the subject.

Mary – Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.  

Searching for lost piety, she grasps for a fig leaf.

Mary – Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem...

Traveler – I am too weary to continue this dance.  Listen to me.  Soon you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  You Samaritans really don't know what you worship, but we do, for salvation comes from the Jews.  But today true worshipers are worshipping the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. 

She believes she is safe now, hidden behind a 

false robe of religion.  It is time to close 

this conversation and move on.  There will be be no 

miraculous provision this time.  Or so she thinks.

Mary -- I know that Messiah is coming.  When he comes, he will explain everything to us.

Traveler– The Messiah is talking to you now. 

When confronted by real power, it often takes a moment 

to come to full acceptance.  It takes Mary a full five seconds.  

She gasps and stares, open-mouthed, 

not realizing that the Traveler's friends are approaching.  

They are surprised to find him talking with this 

woman and begin to question him about her.  
Seeing an opportunity to escape this uncomfortable 

moment, she flees, leaving the very symbol of her 

shame and imprisonment in Sychar: her water jar.  

She runs for the marketplace

Saved. Knowing God. Two different things.

I've been mulling over something for a long time now, waiting for the pieces to fall into place, and they did last night just as I crawled into bed and passed out for the night. I think I'm on to something because it didn't leave my head when I woke up 7 hours later.
This is really going to piss off a lot of people. Here goes.
You can be "saved" and your sins forgiven and not know God. You can be practicing any sort of sinful lifestyle and still be on the path to heaven, but you may never know it or be able to enjoy the trip, because you don't know God.
This came to me while reading 1 John 2 where the apostle writes, "If anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."
OK, do you get that? All sin, everyone's sin, past, present and future has been paid for by the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. Does that mean we stop sinful practices? Maybe, if we really understand what that sacrifice meant. But how many people really understand what it means? How many people really know what that means. Well, John goes on to say, "We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did."
Does John say, that anyone truly saved obeys the commandments? No, he says if we know and love God, then we obey. This is a clear distinction between the act of salvation and what some people call "the witness."
We have to understand that we have NOTHING to do with the salvation process. That is all in Jesus. He did it for us. They only thing we have to do to get on the train is say, "Yes, I want to be saved and not go to hell."
Many people do exactly that and then go on to lead the most horrendous lifestyle. For example, Fred Phelps, the Idaho pastor that travels around the country making ugly anti-gay protests. Almost every Christian I know thinks what he does is an abomination. They do not call his lifestyle Christian. Yet, they all know that Fred made a commitment to Christ and is therefore a Christian.
The problem is, Fred is a very bad witness and no one wants to be associated with him. Why, because Fred really doesn't know God and his lifestyle shows it. Still going to heaven, but not someone to be around.
To know God, you have to spend some time with him. That's why we need to read the Bible and pray. That doesn't mean reading a book about what someone else says the Bible says; that doesn't mean listing to Christian radio or watching Christian TV; it doesn't mean listening to sermons. None of that is bad, but it does not replace reading God's "letters" to you and talking directly to him. That's how you get to know him. And when you get to know him, you find out how much he loves you. You find out what he had to give up to get you into a relationship with him. And you find yourself becoming more and more grateful and want to find out what you can possibly do for him. And what does he tell you to do?
He says, be safe; don't do harm to yourself or others, and spend more time with him. That's the heart of the Bible. All of it.
OK, so some Christians are really pissed off right now saying I'm taking this all out of context. Let me give you some context. Read all of Romans in one sitting. Don't stop after a couple of chapters. Take it all in at one time. Do the same with Galatians. Then read all of John's Epistles in one sitting. You can do all of that in a single day.
Then read Luke 17:11-19. Oh, heck, I'll just give it to you.
"Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, 'Jesus, Master, have pity on us!' When he saw them, he said, 'Go, show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him - and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, 'Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?' Then he said to him, 'Rise and go; your faith has made you well.'"
The question I have for you is how many of the lepers were "saved" from their disease? Was it only the one who came back or all 10? Only one decided to find out more about the man who saved him. The other nine went on their way, continuing in the life they had before they met Jesus. (By the way, at that time, Samaritans to Jews where the equivalent of gays to evangelicals).
Let me give you a couple of other examples from the Old Testament. Abraham lied and cheated his way through life. So did his grandson Jacob. So did his descendent David, King of Israel. Yet those three spent time with God and knew him. They had relationship with him. Those are only three I'm mentioning.
Yet Jesus and all the apostles say that when Jesus rose from the dead, he brought with him everyone who was in Hell who wanted to come. They are all with God now, regardless of how they lived their life and whether they knew God.
Your lifestyle doesn't keep you from being saved. It can just keep you from enjoying your life. Don't believe me? Start reading the Bible. You'll see.